Over the past four decades how to investigate an allegation
of child sexual abuse has not been consistent in the manner in which other
major crimes are handled. The reasons are very important to understand if law
enforcement methods and techniques are antiquated or are they trying to play
catch-up with the other criminal investigations?

The investigative approach of what the roles and
responsibilities of law enforcement investigators should be in child sexual
abuse investigations has always been confusing. The confusion has been
identified by many forensic investigative experts in the field of investigating
child sexual abuse allegations over the past four decades.

The opinion of law enforcement investigators and other
professional experts in the child sexual abuse industry is that law enforcement
has bowed to the advocacy of protecting children who may have been sexually
assaulted. The advocacy is not to be put to the side, but law enforcement investigators
are not advocators, but investigators; you can be either one but not both.

When law enforcement officials have the mindset that they
not only are investigators, but social workers as well, their thought process becomes
a staple of incompetence and unintelligence.

Law enforcement officers can be sensitive to children who
allegedly have been sexually or physically assaulted, but their main
responsibility is to be professional and compartmentalize what they should be
doing i.e. investigating, finding facts and evidence to identify if a crime was
committed or not.

Instead of stepping up and investigating the sexual and
physical assault allegations from the beginning to the end without interference
from other individuals, professionals, and advocates the law enforcement
management have failed to advocate for fact finding policies, procedures, and
policies. As will become obvious management must develop a paradigm where the
construct is one where the roles and responsibilities are delineated with
precision and expertise.

Confusion And
Ideologies

Where does the confusion and ideologies of what law
enforcements process in recognizing who should do what has been paramount in
the failures and success of the investigations performed to date? Four decades
ago society acknowledged that child sexual and physical abuse was a major
problem and needed to be aggressively addressed. The criminal justice system
was not prepared for this new child abuse recognition and professionals from
numerous fields did not assist law enforcement with understanding what their
role and responsibilities would be. Moreover, law enforcement

Sent To The Back

The victim’s advocate’s individuals and groups simply shut
the door on law enforcement officials and made them take a backseat in what
they would and needed to do in child sexual assault investigations. There has
never been a crime where law enforcement didn’t lead the way in performing any
and all of the investigative duties of who will perform the interviews,
especially the alleged child victim; creating investigative rules, procedures,
and policies which law enforcement was to abide by. It is difficult to find the
truth when the investigator is positioned in the back of the room trying to see
over the shoulders of others.

The
Current Process

Generally, complaints are made to the Department of Social
Health Services (DSHS) or law enforcement officials that a child was sexually or
physically assaulted. If DSHS receives the complaint they are to immediately
inform law enforcement and if law enforcement receives the complaint they are
to immediately inform DSHS. If the assault of the child involves a third party
i.e. a stranger there may be no need for DSHS to be involved in.

The problem with the complaint process is the belief that
DSHS is responsible to perform an investigation into the child assault
allegations. DSHS have no law enforcement powers and cannot arrest the
potential perpetrator. When it comes to removing the child DSHS has two options;
they can obtain an administrative warrant to remove the child or request law
enforcement to remove the child.

Among more than 1,400 adult females, childhood sexual abuse was associated with increased likelihood of drug dependence, alcohol dependence, and psychiatric disorders. The associations are expressed as odds ratios: for example, women who experienced nongenital sexual abuse in childhood were 2.93 times more likely to suffer drug dependence as adults than were women who were not abused. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Law enforcement must accompanying DSHS to serve the warrant
and assist them in the removal of the child. There are circumstances where a
law enforcement officer can remove the child if they believe that the child is
physically or sexually at risk to be assaulted again or injured by the parties
involved in the complaint. Further, if the perpetrator will not leave the
premises or the mother or father is not protective of the child then the child
can be removed.

Many aspects of DSHS involvement in the process of
investigating child sexual and physical assault cases is the decision by the
caseworker is to interview the alleged child victim without trained and
specialized law enforcement investigators.

Most of the caseworkers are not trained forensic child
sexual abuse interviewers. They do have the ability to perform the menial type
interviews, but their ‘sole’ role is the protection of the child from sexual or
physical abuse or neglect. Further, they have the responsibility to provide
assistance to the family e.g. therapy, placements, and etc. Outside these roles
DSHS needs to remove themselves from any interviews and investigations.

If law enforcement needs the assistance of any of the other
professionals in the child sexual abuse industry then this is a decision the
lead investigator will make at the appropriate and necessary time. DSHS
generally does not digitally record their interviews with the alleged child
victim. The problem with this is there is no documentation of:

·What questions were asked and at what phase of
the interview were the questions asked?

·What were the exact questions asked and the
exact answer of the child to those questions?

·What was the manner in which the DSHS worker was
able to identify the child’s use of their genitilia i.e. private parts and the
child’s understanding of what each body part is and what bodily function is it used
for?

·Who was present during the child interview? Why
was a specific individual involved in the interview and/or why wasn’t anyone
allowed to observe the interview?

·If the interview was not digitally or videotaped
who took the notes during the child interview and where are those notes now?
Many jurisdictions destroy their notes once they type their reports.

These are just some of the basic questions which law
enforcement needs to obtain during the investigative process. The DSHS
interview could have been the first interview of the child or the second,
third, or fourth. Failure by the DSHS caseworker to ascertain who had
previously been involved with the child needs to be addressed before moving
forward if they determine they need to interview the child.

The prior disclosures by the child of allegedly being
sexually or physically assaulted are vital for the caseworker to understand,
what the child disclosed, and to whom. Otherwise, the caseworker may find
themselves caught in the middle of mixed-disclosures or possible contamination
by others who may have lead or suggested to the child in saying things about an
event which was not true or accurate. If the caseworker steps into an
investigative role then they must have the education and training necessary to
conduct a child victim interview.

If DSHS caseworkers would have law enforcement present
during contacts with families and the alleged victim where child sexual,
physical, or neglect are the complaint, then there may be an opportunity that
the alleged child victim’s disclosures may become immediately credible and
reliable. Law enforcement generally digitally and videotapes all interviews
with child witnesses, whereas stated above DSHS does not.

Regaining
Control

DSHS is only one of the professional agencies in the social
network in the child sexual abuse industry that may conflict with the needs of
the law enforcement investigations. The needs of law enforcement must be
paramount over any other professionals if the truth will be pursued and found.
The other agencies except the medical examination of the child to make sure the
victim is not physically injured need to step back and allow law enforcement to
regain control and do what they do in every other type of criminal complaint.

The solutions to resolving just who is in charge of the
interviews and investigations in child sexual and physical assaults are
convoluted because the leaders in law enforcement have existed in the background
failing to insert their competent and intelligent stance. As stated above there
are no other criminal investigations where it is a requirement that all of these
external professionals in the social network are required to be involved to
obtain the truth.

Until law enforcement is able to perform the investigation
into the allegations without outside interference, the journey for everyone
involved specifically the alleged child victim and perpetrator, there will
continue to be many ‘questions’ asked about the integrity and credibility of
the allegations.

So which law enforcement leader will stand up and deal with
the current process, procedure, and role and responsibilities they have been
given by other external professionals? If a social worker came into a homicide
scene and a child witness could tell the law enforcement officials what
happened, would the detectives allow other professionals to do the interview of
the child? Of course not!

Murder is seen as a greater crime than the rape of a child
and this is where the criminal justice system has missed an opportunity to protect
children from sexual and physical assaults and guarantee alleged perpetrators their
Constitutional rights. Further, the alleged perpetrator should always, under
all circumstances, when accused of a serious crime such as the rape of a child,
deserve an objective and neutral investigation.
Arresting and prosecuting an individual for a crime they did not commit,
should be afforded all the rights under the Constitution.

The need for law enforcement to be the leaders, not the
followers, in the interviewing and investigations of those who commit crimes
against children and those who are sometimes falsely accused is
today. Unfortunately, for some time now the criminal justice system
has lost sight of what is important when it comes to child sexual and physical
assaults.

The bell has been rung and if law enforcement officials
across this nation would speak out about why law enforcement must be in control
of the investigation from the beginning until the end, then the credibility and
reliability of the manner in which these types of cases are handled will ring
loudly.

If no one in law enforcement understands what changes need
to be made, then they will continue to work under an antiquated system and be
placed in the position where they are always trying to catch-up. The failing
criminal justice system can be turned around, but it will take a committee of
experts and professionals who understand that law enforcement investigators are
trained and educated in how to conduct any and all investigations competently
and intelligently no matter what crime is being investigated and should be
positioned where they need to be i.e. back to the front.

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In the small town of Kent, just south of Seattle in Washington State there is a child serial rapist and murderer who has targeted young girls. Over an eight-year period, Victor has abducted, raped and murdered 12 young girls. Detectives Simon Stocker and Gus Hall begin the chase of Victor. Just when he appears to have disappeared, he abducts 12 year-old Brittany Redman and the chase is on again.

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Lawrence W. Daly is the author of multiple sex crime non-fiction books and booklets. Lawrence is one of the leading experts in the field of child sexual abuse investigations. Chasing Victor is his newest adventure. This debut novel, an exciting thriller will keep you on your toes, wondering who Victor might be, and whether Detectives Stocker and Hall will succeed in chasing Victor down. A must read!

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